


Check-Up

by fallingleaves



Series: Chronicles of the Allen Children [5]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Band-Aids, Crying, Doctors & Physicians, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Procedures, Misunderstandings, caitlin is a great doctor, checkup, cisco is a great uncle, leah just wants ice cream, len's a great dad, shots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-08 03:20:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6836980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingleaves/pseuds/fallingleaves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Len brings Lucas and Leah to a check-up with Caitlin.  Lucas reacts badly - it's a result of a bit of a misunderstanding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Check-Up

**Author's Note:**

> For this fic:
> 
> Michael 8  
> Lucas and Leah 6  
> Wentworth 3  
> Cyrus 2
> 
> You don't have to read the rest of the series to read this, but for background info see the first or second fics in the series, especially the first one for this. There's a reference to the first fic in this fic, but I explain it so it's not necessary to read it.  
> Small synopsis: Len and Barry are married, they have five children (see ages above) and Len as ice powers. All the children are metas of some sort.

 

 

 

            “I don’t want to see Auntie Caitlin,” Leah said.

            “Well that’s not very nice,” Barry said, “what did Auntie Caitlin ever do to you?”

            “I don’t want to see Auntie Caitlin at Star,” Leah amended, “she’s going to be doctory.  I don’t want to go to the doctors.”

            “No one really wants to go to the doctors,” Len said, “but we have to, to be healthy.”

            Leah’s eyes narrowed.  “I am healthy.  I’m not sick – I don’t even have a cold!”

            “It’s a checkup,” Barry said, “you have checkups even when you’re not sick.”

            “Why?”

            “To make sure you stay healthy,” Len said, “everyone has to go, Leah.  Michael had his last month, and I went to my appointment a couple weeks ago, and now it’s you and Lucas’s turn.”

            “Why does it have to be our turn?” she asked.  “Can’t it be Wen’s turn?”

            “No,” Wentworth said, “no’ my turn.”

            “Calm down, Wen, you’re staying here with me,” Barry said, patting his head.  he climbed over onto the couch where Barry was sitting, bringing the toy trucks he was holding with him.

            “Wentworth goes in the winter,” Len said, “everyone has to go once a year, and it’s been a year now since you and Lucas have gone.”

            “Is there gonna be shots?” she asked, pouting, arms crossed, looking accusingly from Len to Barry.

            “I don’t know,” Len lied, “you can ask Auntie Caitlin when we get there.”

            “I don’t want shots,” she said.

            “I know you don’t,” Len said, “but sometimes they’re necessary.  They help protect you from bad diseases, so you can stay healthy and not get sick.”

            “Can’t I just get sick?”

            Len sighed.  “They’re bad diseases, Leah, you wouldn’t want to get sick with them.”

            “But –”

            “We are already running late,” Len said, “it’s time to get in the car.  Come on.”  He took the bag that he had packed, and then held out his hand for Leah.  “Let’s go.”

            She frowned, arms still crossed.

            “Come on, Leah,” Len said, “you too Lucas.”

            Lucas was sitting next to Barry.  He had been silent the whole time but Len didn’t miss the way he was holding onto Barry’s arm, how he watched the conversation with growing anxiety.

            He slid off the couch slowly, and then trudged forward.  Leah ignored Len’s hand and stalked towards the car, still indignant, but Lucas took it.

            They were both quiet on the ride there.  Cisco met them at the door to the cortex.

            “Hey, what are my favorite meta twins doing here?”

            “We have to see Auntie Caitlin,” Leah said dejectedly, “for doctor stuff.  Even though we’re not sick.”

            “Oh, that’s a bummer. I was hoping I could show you some of the stuff I was working on.  Maybe you could help me out.”  Cisco grinned at them, and they both perked up a little.

            “Leah’s going to go first,” Len said, placing his hand on top of Leah’s head.  Cisco knew this already, knew about the whole thing already.

            Leah might complain more, but Lucas was much more scared of shots.  After he broke his arm, they just weren’t sure how he was going to do back in a medical setting.  Len didn’t want Leah and Lucas in the room with each other while they got their shots, and Barry never brought them in, so they needed someone to stay with one child while the other saw Caitlin.  Len figured it would be best to have Leah go first, and hopefully Cisco could distract Lucas enough to help him calm down before it was his turn.

            Leah looked up though, a slightly outraged look on her face.  “Why?” she asked.  “Why do I have to go first?  Lukey can go first.  I don’t want to go.”

            “I don’t either,” Lucas said, “Da said you have to.  I’m not going first – you have to go first, he already said.”  His voice was too high and too fast, running over to Cisco in a blink, hands clutching at his jeans and the bottom edge of his shirt.

            “Whoa,” Cisco said, before placing his hand against Lucas’s back.  “Easy there, mini Flash.”

            “You’re older,” Len said, “so you’re going first.  Come on.”

            Leah gaped at him.  “That’s not fair,” she said, but Len was already leading her forward by the hand.

            Cisco led Lucas away, and Leah dragged her feet.

            “It’s not fair,” she said again.  “I’m only a minute older.  It doesn’t count.”

            Len stopped, and crouched down, so he was at her eye level.  “Someone has to go first,” he said, and then he paused.  “Do you remember when Lucas broke his arm, and had to see Auntie Caitlin?”

            Leah nodded, the frown still stuck on her face.

            “When she had to fix it,” Len said, “it hurt Lucas very badly.”

            “I know,” she said, shifting a little.  “He told us.”

            “He get’s very scared by seeing Auntie Cait when she’s being your doctor now,” he said, “and I know it’s not really fair, but I need you to be really brave and go first.”

            She was still frowning, but she looked less outraged now, and then a little fear entered her expression.

            “Auntie Cait’s not doing anything like that now, is she?”

            “No,” Len said quickly, “no, nothing like that.  She’s just going to listen to you breathe, and take a look at your eyes and ears, and little stuff like that.  And then you might need a shot, but that only hurts for a second and then it’s done.  Nothing like when Lucas broke his arm, I promise.”

            She looked unsure, still obviously unhappy about the situation.

            “And if you’re really good,” Lens said, “and you can be really brave for me and go first, then maybe we can go get ice cream afterwards.”

            Her eyes lit up.  “Ice cream?”

           

 

 

 

 

            Leah ended up looking mostly annoyed throughout the whole thing.  When Caitlin said she needed to give her a shot Leah sent an accusatory glare at Len.

            “I don’t want a shot,” she said, watching as Caitlin brought over a tray with alcohol swabs, a Band-Aid, and the syringe.  There was competing elements of anger and fear in her voice.

            “I know,” Len said, “but it’ll be over really fast, and it only hurts for a second.  You can squeeze my hand, OK?”

            She bit her lip, and glanced back at Caitlin, who gave her a smile.

            “Only hurts for a second, and then it’s done,” Caitlin said, “I promise.  And then you’ll be all set, and you can go find Uncle Cisco, OK?  You should ask him if he has any Recess left – I saw a bowl of it earlier.”

            “I think he had something new for you to try to freeze too,” Len said.

            Leah kept biting at her lip.  Caitlin took her arm gently, and Len took her hand.  She swiped the alcohol wipe over her arm.  

            “Look right at me,” Len said, “you’re doing a great job, sweetheart.”

            She started to whine, tensing up.

            “Try to relax your arm, Leah,” Caitlin said, “It’ll hurt less that way.  That’s it – that’s perfect.  I’m going to count to three, OK?”

            Leah took a shaky breath.  “OK,” she said, her voice small.

            Len gave her hand a squeeze, and smiled.  “Doing great,” he said, “be all done in a second, and then we’ll get out of here and go find Uncle Cisco – you can tell him how brave you were.”

            “OK, Leah.  One… two… three.”

            Leah cried out, and Caitlin was done and then Len was holding her, her head tucked in at his shoulder.

            “All done,” Caitlin said, sticking the bandage on. “You did so well, Leah.  It’s all done now.  You’re all set.”

            Len wiped away the tears on her face, and she sniffed and then looked over at her arm.

            “It still hurts,” she said.

            “Sometimes it can be sore for a bit afterwards,” Len said.

            “You said it would only hurt for a second.”

            “Well, didn’t it only really hurt for a second?  It’s better now right?”

            “No,” she said indignantly.

            “Leah,” Len said.

            “I want ice cream.”

            Len sighed.

 

 

 

 

 

            When they brought Lucas in, he stayed right up against Len, and wouldn’t move onto the exam table.  Caitlin accommodated him, did the preliminary tests by kneeling on the ground next to where Len sat with Lucas in his lap.  He flinched away from the stethoscope, and Caitlin had to demonstrate looking in Len’s ear before Lucas would let her try that.  When she took out the blood pressure cuff he tucked both his arms in between his body and Len’s chest. 

            “It doesn’t hurt,” Caitlin said, and once again demonstrated on Len.  Lucas still didn’t like the feel of it, and his blood pressure was through the roof with how nervous he was.  When it was finally time for the shot he was already close to tears.

            “Lukey,” Len said, rubbing circles on his back.  “there’s just one more thing and then we can go, OK?  Auntie Caitlin needs to give you one shot, and then we’ll be all done and we can go home.”

            Lucas started trembling, shaking his head.  “I don’ wan a shot,” he said against Len’s shoulder.  “I don’t wanna, please.”

            “I know, Lukey,” Len said, “but you need it to stay healthy.  It only hurts for a second, OK?  And afterwards we’ll be all done and we can go home.  You’ve been so good for us so far.  We can even go get ice cream afterwards if you want.”

            But Lucas was shaking his head.  “I don’t want to.  I wanna go home, I wanna go home.”

            “I know, Lukey,” Len said, “I know this is scary, but it’ll only hurt for a second.  It’s just one little pinch, then it’s done.”

            Lucas stiffened suddenly, and Len had one second to be alarmed by that, and then Lucas was gone, and he was across the room, tugging at the door trying to get it open.

            “Lucas,” Len said, shocked, as he got up.

            The door was locked from the other side.  After dealing with a panicked Barry for many years, they had some rooms that were like that, and Caitlin had the foresight to pick one in case Lucas tried to run.

            “No,” Lucas yelled.  He pried at the door, and when Len tried to move towards him he flashed to the other side of the room again.  He was crying, shaking so much he was almost vibrating.

            “Luke, hey, it’s alright – it’s OK,” Len said, hands up, approaching much more slowly this time.  Lucas’s eyes were darting back and forth.  He pressed himself into the corner of the room, wedged himself under the exam table, and then grabbed onto the leg of the table, sitting on the floor, arms and legs wrapped around the leg of the table.  He tucked his head in and squeezed his eyes shut, like he thought Len would try to forcefully pry him up and put him on the exam table.

            “Lukey,” Len said.  He crouched down near his son but kept a good five feet away.  “Lukey, what’s wrong.”

            “I –i-it’s g-gonna h-h-u-urt,” Lucas got out, and then burst into tears.

            “Just for one second,” Len said, “Lukey, it’s OK.  It’s not that bad, it’s really not.  I promise, it only hurts for a second, it’s just a little pinch, and then it’s done.”

            Lucas let out a wail.

            “I w-want D-Daddy,” he cried.  “I w-wanna go h-o-ome.”

            “Lukey, it’s OK,” Len tried desperately, “it hardly hurts at all.  It’s not bad, I promise.  Do you want to see Da get one first?  Do you want to have Auntie Caitlin give me one first?  So you can see?”

            Lucas quieted for a moment, and then blinked. “You first?”

            “Yes,” Len said.  “Auntie Caitlin can give me a shot first, so you can see that it’s not that bad.”

            Lucas looked wary, but nodded.  He was still shaking, though.

            “You’re gonna have to come out of there first,” Len said.

            Lucas slowly crawled out.  He went straight into Len’s arms, grabbing at his shirt.  Len took a minute to rub his back, to just hold him.

            “You’re gonna have to let me go too,” Len said.  “If you want to see.”

            So Lucas let go, and Len sat him down in the chair he was previously occupying, and then stood by the exam table.  Caitlin took a syringe filled with saline and an alcohol swab.

            “I’m going to disinfect the area,” Caitlin said, and then showed Lucas the little towel.  “it might feel a little cold.”

            She wiped it over Len’s arm.

            “And now I’m going to count to three, and then give Da the shot, OK?”

            Lucas nodded, wringing his hands.

            “One… two… three.”  She gave him the shot, and Len let a little flicker of pain show on his face.

            “Ouch,” he said, frowning for a second, scrunching his nose before smiling again.  Caitlin put a Band-Aid over it.

            “All done,” she said.

            “See,” Len said, “not bad at all.”  He walked back to Lucas and crouched down again.  “Think you’re ready for yours now too?”

            Lucas looked at Caitlin anxiously, and then back to Len.  “Did it pinch?” he asked, his voice a whisper.

            “Just a tiny bit,” Len said, “but then –”  He was about to say but then it was done in a second, but before he could Lucas burst into tears again and started hyperventilating.

            “Hey,” Len said, wiping away the tears, “pinches aren’t bad – it’s just a little tiny pain, it’s not bad.”

            “Yes it _is_ ,” Lucas wailed.  The conviction and fear in his voice shocked Len.  “I-i-it hu-urts s-so mu-uch.  I don’t w-wanna – I want ta go ho-ome.”

            “Lukey, it only hurts a tiny bit.  You just saw – just a tiny bit.”

            Lucas shook his head.  “It’s go-onna be like w-when she s-setted i-it.”

            Len started.  “Lucas, it’s nothing like that.  Lukey, it’s just a shot, that’s – Lukey, sweetheart, it doesn’t hurt anywhere near like that.  You broke the bone, Lucas.  That was a big injury.  This is tiny compared to that.”

            Lucas quieted a bit.  “Tiny?”

            “Tiny,” Len said, “Lukey, it’s just a shot.  It’s not anything like breaking a bone.”

            Lucas looked at him warily.  “But you said it pinches.”

            Realization flooded through Len.  Right before Lucas had the bone set Len told him he was going to feel a big pinch.  The fact that he remembered that shocked Len, but maybe it shouldn’t have.  It was a traumatic experience – he might remember it much clearer than he would otherwise have.

            “Oh Lukey, no,” Len said, “when I said it pinches, I meant a pinch like this.”  And he pinched Lucas’s arm lightly, not enough to actually hurt, just to show him.  “I didn’t mean like when you broke your arm.”

            “So – so it’s not like that?”

            “No, Lukey, not at all.  It’s nothing like that.  It’s just this tiny little sting, and then it’s done.  I promise, Lukey, it’s just a little sting for a second and then it’s over and it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

            Lucas looked from him to Caitlin and back.  “Promise?”

            “I promise,” Len said.

            Lucas trembled.  “Do I hav’ta?”

            Len gave him a small smile.  “Yes,” he said, “you have to in order to stay healthy.”

            His eyes welled up with tears again.  “I don’want to,” he said.

            “I know,” Len said, “but it’s really quick, and then it’s all over, OK?  Look, I brought something for you.”  He reached over and grabbed the bag he had brought, and then pulled out Lucas’s stuffed polar bear and held it up to him.  “I brought Franklin if you want to hold him while you get it done.”

            Lucas took the bear from Len and squeezed it to his chest.

            “There you go,” Len said.  “Do you want to sit with me in the chair again?”

            Lucas nodded, and got up off the chair so Len could sit down, before climbing into his lap.  Len hugged him and Lucas pressed his forehead into Len’s chest.

            Caitlin came over then, holding the antiseptic wipe.

            “Luke,” she said, “I’m going to wipe your arm now.  It’s going to feel a little cold, OK?  It’ll just feel like water though, OK?”

            Lucas wined and pressed his face farther against Len.  Caitlin gently took his arm and wiped a spot on it.  He started crying again when she touched him.

            “Shh,” Len said, “it’s OK.”  He held Lucas tightly with one arm and stroked his hair with the other.

            “OK, Lukey, I’m going to give you the shot now,” she said, “I’ll count to three, OK?”

            “No, no-o,” Lucas said, trembling, shaking his head.  He pulled his arm back a little.

            “Shh,” Len said again, “It’s OK, Lucas.  I promise, it’s OK.  Just squeeze Franklin and it’ll be all done in a moment.  Do you want to squeeze my hand too?”

            Lucas nodded and Len gave him his hand, still holding him tightly.

            “OK, Lucas.  One… two… three,” Caitlin said, and gave him the shot.

            Lucas screamed, and then he was sobbing, crying as Caitlin let go of his arm and he pulled it back in, tried to get away.

            “Just putting a Band-Aid on, Luke,” Caitlin said, taping it in place.  When she was done Len shifted so Lucas could pull his arm in, tuck it in close to his chest.  He cried harshly against Len.

            “Shh, it’s all done,” Len said, “all done, Lukey.  That’s it.  It’s all over.”

            They sat there for a good five minutes, Len petting Lucas’s hair and telling him how well he did, how it was all done now, how they’d go get ice cream and then go home.  Lucas gripped onto his shirt, still holding his stuffed animal while he slowly quieted down.  Caitlin left the room, hoping her absence might make it a bit better.  It upset her that the kids, especially Lucas, were starting to associate her with pain, but because of their meta abilities they couldn’t see any other doctors.  They could get away with it with Michael, and for specialists with all the kids except Lucas, bur for a primary care doctor they didn’t have a lot of options.  A simple blood test and if the doctor knew what to look for they’d find out fairly quickly that they were metas.

            When Lucas had finally stopped crying and Len coaxed him out they walked downstairs where Cisco was showing Leah some of the stuff he was working on.  She was laughing when they got there, sitting on a stool while Cisco flew a droid around the room.  She hopped down when they entered the room.

            “Lucas, you have to see Uncle Cisco’s helicopter,” Leah said, and then ran over to Cisco again, tugging at his shirt.  “Show him the ‘elicopter.”

            “I already saw it,” Lucas mumbled, but Leah seemed unperturbed.  She raced around to Cisco’s desk and grabbed the bowl of candy.

            “Uncle Cisco let me have five Reece’s,” she said.

            Len shot a glare at Cisco, and he smiled sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders.

            She held the bowl out to Lucas but he just shook his head.  She put it down on the nearest table and then went back over to him, pointing at his arm.

            “Did you get a shot too?” she asked.  And then she took his arm in her hands and was inspecting the Band-Aid.  Lucas let out a whine and pulled away.

            “Ge’ off,” he said, pressing into Len.

            “My Band-Aid’s better,” Leah said, “see, look – I got Frozen.”

            She showed Lucas the Band-Aid, where a cartoon Olaf was smiling.  Len snorted – he hadn’t noticed it earlier.

            “Yours is trains though,” she said, “that’s OK too.”

            Lucas looked over, noticing for the first time the Thomas the tank engine on his Band-Aid.  Len made a mental note to thank Caitlin, again.  She had obviously taken the time to pick two different boxes of Band-Aid’s out for each of them.

            “I like trains,” Lucas said.  He rubbed at the Band-Aid.

            “Alright,” Len said, “now that Uncle Cisco has gotten you entirely hyped up on sugar, I believe I promised ice cream.”

            “Ice cream!” Leah said, grinning.

            Lucas tugged on Len’s hand.  “Can I have a Reece’s first?” he asked. 

            Len sighed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :) You should totally review because it would make my day :)


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